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Fall Movie Review Roundup: 'Gangster,' 'Devil,' Vampires
Still playing catch-up on movie reviews post-cleanse. Today, three violent new flicks...
AMERICAN GANGSTER (B+)
Russell Crowe plays a detective trying to bring down heroin kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) in 1970's Harlem.
American Gangster stalls just short of classic gangster movie status. I can't point to anything particularly wrong with the film, it just lacks that certain zip and freshness you get from a Godfather, a Goodfellas, a Brasco.
Great flick, though. It runs nearly three hours and breezes by in what feels like half that. It's expertly paced, and every scene earns its place (rhyme). The recreation of 70's NYC is beautifully done. The script, by the great Steven Zaillian (Awakenings, Schindler's List), doesn't hit a false note. The huge, fine, sprawling supporting cast offers more "hey, it's...that guy!" moments than any other film this year. And Crowe and Washington, easily two of the best actors working, give typically great -- if somewhat familiar -- performances. As with DeNiro and Pacino in Heat, the nature of the story has them only sharing a precious few scenes, and you wind up wanting a lot more.
I walked out of this film on a high, dazzled and excited. But within about an hour, it had pretty much vanished from my mind. Ridley Scott is a technical master, but his films never stick with me. There is so much to recommend here, but ultimately it's a crime tale bogged down by the feeling of "been there, seen that, better then."
BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD (A-)
One of the all-time great directors, Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Network), is still churning out classics at 83 years old.
Ethan Hawke is a complete loser who can't afford child support or anything else. His brother, Philip Seymour Hoffman, isn't doing much better, but he has a plan. He wants Hawke, the weaker brother by a landslide, to rob their parents' jewelry store. The parents collect the insurance money, the brothers get the loot, and everyone comes away happy. Sure they do.
Things go spectacularly wrong of course, and the movie uses a surprisingly successful gimmick of blasting you back, day-by-day, through the time before the robbery. Considering how much time-shifting goes on, the whole thing is remarkably easy to follow -- credit first-time screenwriter Kelly Masterson. It's a dark, nasty, thrilling little ride.
Hoffman is better here than he was in his showy, Oscar-winning role in Capote. Hawke, always an underrated actor, is perfect as the weak, wounded brother. Albert Finney is outstanding as their cold, detached father. And Marisa Tomei...hang on, let me start a new paragraph.
I never thought much one way or the other of Marisa Tomei, but now I think she may be the hottest actress in the game. She is naked for a good 20 minutes in Devil, and the nudity almost caused me to lose consciousness. It brought me back to the feeling of looking at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in my clubhouse. What a body -- my Christ. My Christ. Sorry.
Considerably less hot? The Philip Seymour Hoffman nudity that kicks off the film. If you can survive that, the bloodshed ahead should be a breeze.
Anyway, don't let this pitch-black moral tale pass you by. If you can't catch it in the theater, put it in your Netflix now. Devil is a hell of a picture.
30 DAYS OF NIGHT (C)
It's a shame that some of the most stunning visuals in film tend to be wasted on weak, underdeveloped stories. Think The Cell. Think the fucktarded 300. And now, think 30 Days of Night.
30 Days is an absolutely beautiful film. Every shot looks like a painting. There's an overhead shot of of vampires feasting on the town that is one of my favorite movie moments of the year. But screenwriters Steve Niles, Stuart Beattie, and Brian Nelson give you absolutely nothing to...sink your teeth into. Thank you.
Directed by David Slade (the sweet thriller Hard Candy) and based on a graphic novel (never words I'm happy to see in a movie's credits), 30 Days has a terrific setup. An Alaskan town goes dark for 30 days each year, and this year, they've got to survive vampire attacks until the sun comes back. But the attacks are fairly weak, the vampires lack personality, and the story just ain't there. The actors are total voids. Only Ben Foster, scene stealer extraordinaire, manages to inject some life into the proceedings. You know you're in trouble when your movie's hero is Josh Harnett -- an actor I've long argued is hiding the fact that he has Down's Syndrome.
Fangs for nothing.
I saw BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD last night at SLIFF and it was
pretty good. In spite of the fact that I'd gone to bed at 4AM and woken up
four hours later and not gone back to bed since (and had been in movie
theatres all day), I didn't feel tired for any of it. It was really
INTENSE!
God, you do make me miss my single (or rather childless) days in Manhattan
when I went to the movies at least once a week....I went today and sat
through Bee Movie. A few good laughs but more for adults than children.
you had me until 30 days of night.
Rob,
Sorry if I gave the impression that I thought DEVIL was better than
PLAN...definitely not the case. We are in agreement about A SIMPLE PLAN.
For some reason, I couldn't love "Devil," and I wanted to so badly. But as
opposed to a story like "Simple Plan" where the characters are so trapped
that their situation becomes more and more dire, the brothers in this movie
seem to just be making unrelatable, unmotivated poor decisions. So the
bloodshed and fury at the end of the film didn't come off with the tragic
power it should have; it just felt pitiful.
ROB,
i love ethan hawke even if he is a cheating rat bastard. i will check out
'devil' for sure.
One thing I didn't like about Gangster was I felt Washington was
type-casted. And I feel like in almost EVERY movie Washington is in, he has
to say a varient of "Heh heh.. My man". I felt like it was the guy from
Training Day.
Sam,
Good call, Chris...I started cracking up when I read the "Heh heh...my
man!" thing (and again, just now, thinking about it). It's so true! I bet
he even works it in someplace in GLORY.